consumer debt

My first instinct was to draw the weighty Student Loan Debt object as an anvil.

You guys know what an anvil is, right?

An anvil is a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The block is as massive as it is practical, because the higher the inertia of the anvil, the more efficiently it causes the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece.

WASHINGTON (AP) - One of the nation's largest consumer debt buyers will pay a $2.5 million civil fine to settle deception allegations.

The Federal Trade Commission says Michigan-based Asset Acceptance agreed to the penalty and to changes in the way it collects debt.

The company buys unpaid debts from credit card companies, health clubs and others. The FTC alleged that Asset tried to collect debt in some cases that wasn't even owed. In other cases, the FTC says the company told consumers they owed a debt that may have been too old to collect because it was past the statute of limitations.

As part of the proposed settlement, Asset Acceptance will have to tell consumers that their debt may be too old to be legally enforceable and that it won't sue to collect.